Eternity
by Orokid
Summary: A rewrite of the end of TLO, where Percy is standing before the Gods. Added Percibeth.


**Orokid: **_This was something that I wrote after finishing the final book- The Last Olympian. I remembered this part from the book the most… but there wasn't enough Percibeth there! So, as a writer, I decided to add some in- and ended up writing the scene itself. Hopefully, it came out well- and I hope that I don't get that many flames because of it. Still… I like it. How many of my fanfics can I say that without lying? Not many, if you don't know the answer._

**Disclaimer: **_I have nothing to do with the Percy Jackson series. That belongs to the author himself, Rick Riordan. Not me._

**Eternity**

Eternity.

The young demigod gazed at the large fifteen foot forms of the main Greek gods, debating within his mind if he had heard the word of Olympus right or not. For four years, he had been kicked down, spit at, walked upon for he greater good for both the mortal and immortal worlds. Half of the gods and goddesses had found reason upon reason to despise him, whether it had been due to things he had done or because of his mere existence. Each held their own opinions of him and each of his actions, labeling him in their own little ways as a threat or a slight annoyance that they could disregard if they so chose to as nothing more than one of the Big Three's brats.

And yet not, hours after the battle that had torn up both Olympus and the world below, they thought of him as one of the main heroes that had led the defense, who had gone to great means to protect a group of individuals that had caused many others to question their alignment in the war. He protected a father that had never been there, a family that had once debated killing him because it had supposedly been 'safer' to rid the threat of the dead titan lord's possible destruction of Olympus. Yet while it may have been easier, they had still decided to allow him to live, to see how events would play out and if he really was the one whom the prophecy foretold of.

The young demigod turned his head toward the goddess of wisdom, staring at her quietly, wondering what lay within her complex strategic mind as she watched him with such intensity. Her emotions seemed guarded from him, much like all the other gods who sat before him in their large chairs, yet he could notice every now and then that her gray eyes held an understanding that he was weighing his options, trying not to jump the gun no matter how tempting it was. And behind her understanding gaze, he could see hope glimmer, stone gray orbs watching the sixteen year old boy intently, stubbornly.

With a quick flicker of the goddess's eyes, he realized that he wasn't the only one under her stern gaze.

Slowly, he turned to look behind him, taking in the young blonde who had served the gods faithfully alongside him throughout the years. Her face had turned pale, a shade he had hoped would only remain in memory alone. Even now, as she stood with her hands cupping her mouth in surprise, her eyes, much like her mother's, upon him, he couldn't help but recall the pain in his heart and soul when he had watched her fall from a blow meant for him, poisoned. He remembered how she'd smile, try to keep him from worrying, when she was all that kept him grounded to the earth. If he ever lost her…

The boy's brow furrowed, recalling how it hadn't been that long ago that he had stood hoping, wishing, praying that she would deny Artemis the chance for a new Hunter. He could remember each time he had let her down, thinking of all the reasons she might come up with sp to not feel bad about leaving him and the others behind. All the times he had barked at her out of frustration, out of anger or fear even, and all the times she had saved his life and could never return the favor… Everything had returned a tenfold, and the fear he had never confronted- the fear of losing her, of living a life without her laugh, her smile, her intelligent comebacks, without… her- became a very real possibility that he didn't like.

His sea green orbs watched her silently, reading into her body language all the things he had once felt, feared- and he knew from that desperate look in her smoky eyes that she didn't wish him to cast his life into an immortal one.

Percy, the newly sixteen year old son of Poseidon, lowered his head, biting the inside of his lower lip. He had seen his life flash before his very eyes when he had stared at the three fates, watched himself grow from boy to man in seconds, and even looked down upon his own grave with solemn eyes. If he accepted the gift that the gods wished to give, then he didn't have to worry about illness, about battle wounds that he knew he would receive, about ever finding himself trailing after Hermes and into the multiple valleys of Hades's lair. He'd live as his father's helper and never be far from the ocean that had oftentimes healed wounds he doubted he could have otherwise survived. He'd live a life many a hero dreamed of, gaining a privledge that few others ever had the chance to have.

Yet… beneath the gray eyes of both mother and daughter, he knew more than anything that he could only be the man, the warrior, the teenaged boy he was always meant to be. He could only make one of them happy- and he had never cared much for parents deciding their child's fate based upon their own likes and dislikes. He could only guess that he had gotten such lack for strong authority figures from his mother.

"No." The word seemed weak within the echoing halls of Mount Olympus, but he was determined- and, as many of the gods had come to find, it was his determination that made them able to actually exist for a few thousand more years.

The young ever-mortal demigod looked toward the ones who had been offering him such a priceless gift. Few seemed angry. Most seemed disinterested- or, at least, feigned it well enough. The only smile he could see in the thirteen faces before him was of one particular goddess of love, although he admitted that it looked more as though she had won an argument that had been waging for years. He watched as she secretly slipped her hand back, palm up, as the god of music attempted to dig into his pockets quietly. A good handful of drachma was handed over, her smile seemed to brighten even more- even with the dirty looks the woman received from both the master of the sea and the strategic queen.

Turning his eyes back to the girl behind him, he could see the surprise, the glee that she could barely contain, the uncertainty that what she hear could be true all in her gray eyes that almost could burn a whole through him. He only offered her a smile, soft, caring, feeling the things he himself barely had the chance to understand- yet he didn't mind it because he wanted to spend time getting to learn each and every detail it entailed. A part of him wondered if she had felt the same when she had turned down the lady of the wilderness down, giving him a knowing smile that made him burn with embarrassment and untold emotions within even on the coldest of nights.

Once more, he turned and gazed up at the gods that watched him so intently- and he could see the fires that raged in the lord of the skies eyes. Even still, the boy stood his ground, feet planted firmly in the ground (for fear of being zapped to dust if he accidentally jumped up) and did his best to keep a grin of mirth upon his face. "I have… things I still want to do as a mortal." He felt it best to not explain what it was, considering her mother hated him just for his father alone. If he came out and said it, not only would he have been completely and utterly mortified by the fact that she would know once and for all, but he knew that any and every owl would have it out for him from that point on.

Clearing his throat, he thought about the others, and about the gift the Gods wished to give him (since they couldn't allow the Hero to leave with anything not granted)- and came with a better alternative than immortality. The others who were unclaimed… Luke… Nico… The children of the lesser Gods… They all deserved the same treatment as the ones who were born from the main twelve.

"I do have a better idea though."

Later, after all was said and done and his wishes had been granted, he'd sit down with her, with the girl who was both his friend and the one who held his heart, and tell her everything. Until then…

Well, he would wait for eternity to come and go and would tell her the things he had kept secret.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**Orokid: **_Well? How was it? If you feel compelled to, write me a review and lend me your thoughts about it_._ It's greatly appreciated._


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